Columnist Rips Adrian Peterson for Son's Murder

posted by Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff
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3 years ago

(NEWSER) – Days after the death of Adrian Peterson's toddler son, a New York Post columnist is taking Peterson to task. Phil Mushnick is upset, first of all, that Peterson said he was ready to play football hours after the boy's death, rather than being incapacitated by grief. Secondly, Mushnick wonders: How could Peterson have allowed his son to remain in a dangerous situation (the boy's mother's boyfriend, who has a history of violence, is suspected of beating him to death)? As an NFL MVP, couldn't he "have provided his son a better life, a longer life?" And, finally, Mushnick takes issue with Peterson in general, noting his arrests for reckless driving and resisting arrest when he and his friends refused to leave a nightclub. (The Post'sonline homepage is teasing the column with the headline, "Son's death doesn't make Adrian Peterson a great person.")

Needless to say, Mushnick's column was met with a bit of outrage:

On Gawker, Hamilton Nolan posted his response in the "Monsters" category and calls the Post "New York's most pungent gutter tabloid."

Likewise, David D.'s headline on Uproxx: "Phil Mushnick Is a Horrible Person for His Adrian Peterson Article." He concludes by declaring Mushnick "classless, racist, and despicable."